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Rope – Cast Spotlight – Elizabeth Rose Morriss

Today’s cast spotlight is with Elizabeth Rose Morriss who plays the aloof Miss Susan Kentley in Rope. Elizabeth has previously worked with Bygone Theatre on their Retro Radio Hour shows.

1. What first attracted you to Bygone Theatre and this production of Rope?
I really enjoyed working with Emily on “Noble Savages,” which she directed for Newborn Theatre. When she started Bygone Theatre, I was eager for the chance to work on a play with her again! I admit, I wasn’t familiar with Rope when Emily announced that it would be Bygone’s next production, but as soon as I read it I was interested in being part of it.

2. What challenges have you faced/OR/ what is your favourite part of working on a site-specific play that runs in real time?
I have worked on a couple site-specific plays before—Brant Theatre Workshop’s recurring production of Dracula at Casa Loma, and SQUAT: A Super-Secret Back-Alley Musical at Cinecycle warehouse in the 2013 Fringe Festival. My favourite part of productions like these is having such an incredible backdrop for the production, to have a real castle, warehouse, or turn-of-the-century house to stage your play in is a rare treat, and adds a whole new dimension to the performance. The biggest challenge for me is staging the piece in rehearsal spaces, and then having to translate it to the actual site. It’s a lot easier to visualize entrances and exits and blocking for a traditional theatre space than for a non-theatre space which you haven’t seen.

3. What have you done to prepare for your role?
Susan Kentley is a smaller role, and being such a quiet, uncommunicative character means she has very few lines. That means there are a lot fewer obvious clues about her character, so I’ve had to look very closely at the script for the few lines and stage directions she does have, as well as anything any other character says about her, in order to figure her out. Then it’s a matter of looking at the time she does spend onstage with that in mind, and figuring out her reactions to things, and her reasons for saying—or not saying!—what she does.

4. What has been your favourite part of the rehearsal process so far?
Watching each of the characters come to life, as each actor works through their own process. It’s fun to see people making discoveries and choices. And we always end up having some laughs along the way!

5. Why should everyone come and see Rope?Great script, talented cast, cool venue—it should be an excellent show!